"Well, the 2006 Grammys are over and done with. And actually, I’ll admit they weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. However, I think what the Grammys need to think about is their relevance in the music world. The disparity between populist material and critical darlings have become increasingly drawn. Aside from Kanye (and John Legend) I don’t know of many of these albums that made it onto any critics’ top ten lists. The Recording Academy needs to ask itself what it wants to be; is it really a measuring stick for all of music to measure quality? Or is it simply a proverbial “attaboy” reward for those who sell a lot of records and manage not to anger too many critics?

I don’t know if there’s a proper answer to this. I do know that, no matter how much I generally believe in the subjectivity of what makes art “good,” I still believe in some kind of objectivity when it comes to quality. After all, I don’t think anyone could tell me (with a straight face) that Ashlee Simpson is a better “artist” than Radiohead because she sold more records in a given month. Does critical consensus equal artistic quality? Probably not. But I think it’s a good place to start. Why did so many people have bands like Antony & the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, Bloc Party and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! on their top ten lists? Is it all an anti-establishment conspiracy?

I have to believe that it’s because they look at what it means to make artistic and creative music. Until the Grammys decides to do the same, it will remain a mostly irrelevant ceremony dedicated to raising record sales."

For fucks sake, does no one uderstand about the seal hunt?! Like are these people just going "seals are cute! People shouldn't hurt cute things! :O Lets go stop them!!"
Ugh, I hate stupid people that fight for equally stupid causes.

-SarahGoodbye you liar,Well you sipped from the cup but you don't own up to anythingThen you think you will inspireTake apart your head(and I wish I could inspire)Take apart your demons, then you add it to the list.

Anyway, it's barbaric and stupid regardless of whether certain people only support protection of "cute" animals or not. The practice should be stopped. Period. I see nothing "stupid" about wanting to stop the pointless murder of defenceless animals.

Oh, and Paul McCartney has done his fair share of trying to protect cows. He's a vegetarian and a huge animal rights activist.

Anyway, it's barbaric and stupid regardless of whether certain people only support protection of "cute" animals or not. The practice should be stopped. Period. I see nothing "stupid" about wanting to stop the pointless murder of defenceless animals.

So, um. No.

I really don't want to come across as being mean, but in cases like the seal hunt it seems like no one knows what’s actually going on expect for the ones targeted.
First of all, I don't know why famous people keep coming to Canada and the Maritimes to protest for animal rights. There are so many worse things going on in regards to animal treatment, and even as far as seals go, it happens more in other places like Alaska than it does here. To me, the fact that people keep bringing up the seal hunt in relation to Atlantic Canada is just perpetuating a stereotype with no real validation.
What I sense is that people also seem to have no idea why there is a seal hunt in the first place, either. They seem to think people just go out with a golf club and bash animals. Which is insane. People that have been living here for years have always made a living off of the fishery. That does include cod fishing and all that, but it also includes the seals. People make a living off of hunting these animals. Which, I know, isn't so nice to talk about but so do a lot of people. Farmers and fishermen make a living off animals and so on, so I don't know why this is all that different.

The other thing that people seem to conveniently ignore is that seals are at the top of the Atlantic food chain. Part of the reason why we have no cod left is because of a population rise in seals. If there wasn't a seal hunt and seals were allowed to just grow in population they would literally devour all the resources that people live off of. Seals are little cod-eating machines! There has got to be at least some level of population control or the whole ecosystem would go to hell.

So, in response to what Nikki said, no. The seal hunt is not barbaric and stupid. It just gets labeled that because of the word hunt. You wouldn't call fishing barbaric but if it was "the fish hunt" you might. The practice should most certainly not be stopped. It is absolutely not pointless. And in no way are seals defenseless.

If your vegitarian and support animal rights and all that, than fine. Hell, I even support that most of the time. But don't point fingers at the seal hunt because they are cute and furry. They would bite your foot if given the chance. There are so many worse things going on today anyway. I mean I heard on the news about people selling pets without licences and when they don't sell they just kill off puppys. Kind of sick. And what about genetically altered farm animals, like chickens who are grown to be so fat that their legs can't support their body weight and many end up with broken legs. I just don't get why people care so much about seals when they really don't know anything about it.

-SarahGoodbye you liar,Well you sipped from the cup but you don't own up to anythingThen you think you will inspireTake apart your head(and I wish I could inspire)Take apart your demons, then you add it to the list.

You're right that most people don't know much about what goes on, this is a very emotion-based campaign. For years there have been videos circulated of really brutal killings of seals with clubs, terrible things done to pregnant seals, baby seals left on the ice injured and dying. We watched them in school and I, along with others, threw up during the video... it was the worst most brutal thing I have ever seen and it haunted my dreams.

No one ever showed me videos of the killing of chickens, cows, pigs, etc. If they did I would likely be a vegetarian, and from what I've come to learn is that the seal hunt is generally more humane than what goes on around the world in most slaughterhouses.

Did you see the "What Motivates Seal Hunt Protest Groups?" article I posted? There are others like that as well... I didn't want to just post protest groups and the news about Paul McCartney without finding something on the other side of the argument.

<I><B>"I know this sounds corny, and I might be a little bit drunk, but honest to god, thank you everybody"</B></I>